Students don’t have to go far to find a good hiking trail, the editor of Arizona Highways Magazine said Tuesday.
Robert Stieve told a group of 11 at the Discover Phoenix lecture that the Valley and Arizona as a whole have great trails waiting to be discovered by downtown students.
Discover Phoenix is a weekly event at the Walter Cronkite School that aims to inform students of the activities and experiences the downtown area and rest of the state have to offer.
Stieve focused his presentation on the hiking trails discussed in his book Arizona Highways Hiking Guide: 52 of Arizona’s Best Day Hikes for Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.
“Once a year, (Arizona Highways Magazine) does a summer hiking guide,” he said. “That wasn’t enough hiking for us, so we decided we would do a book.”
Stieve mentioned hikes for students close to the downtown area. One option he endorsed was Camelback Mountain.
“If you haven’t done Camelback, I encourage you to get out and do it, but don’t let it fool you,” he said. “People think, ‘Oh, it’s an easy hike. I’ll just go out and do it.’ You have to take your time.”
All of the hikes Stieve discussed were meant to be completed in a day by the average hiker.
Many of the photos included in the presentation portrayed atypical Arizona scenery, which included lush, green landscapes, flowing streams and trails surrounded by foliage.
“It’s sort of my personal wish to convince the world that Arizona is not just this hot, barren patch of sand with scorpions and rattle snakes running around,” Stieve said. “If you look at (Arizona Highways) at any given month, you’ll see that, and this book certainly shows it as well.”
National Geographic recently named Phoenix one of its “Best U.S. Hiking Cities.”
“I’m not surprised that they ranked it,” Stieve said. “One of the great things about living here is that within our state you get (so many different experiences).”
Stieve said his favorite place to hike in the Valley is in the Superstition Mountains.
Shelby Moore, a journalism sophomore, previously knew Stieve through the Cronkite School’s mentorship program.
“There were some places that are just really close to where I live back home in Cave Creek that I didn’t know about beforehand,” Moore said. “I thought that was really interesting and it will be fun to read [the book] some more and see where else I can go.”
Travis Day, a downtown student studying exercise and wellness, is originally from southern California. Since moving to Arizona for school, he has explored his new home by hiking some of the many trails it has to offer.
“I’ve been hiking the last couple weeks in Cave Creek,” Day said. “The lecture was awesome; great pictures. I’ll probably check out the magazine.”
Contact the reporter at pmelbour@asu.edu
